3310 Tidbits: In Li Jing's Defense (Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms 三生三世十里桃花)
kakashi: Hi all! A new reader, SleepyNanda, who just recently finished watching Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms and says she read ALL the comments (kudos!), will add a few additional tidbits or new perspectives to the drama based on her experience and research. Her first is...
Bold statement in the beginning: He is extremely annoying in the book, but there are quite a few subtleties that the drama series and actor Vin Zhang managed to convey that made him watchable and actually connectable.
Let me explain a few things that due to subtitles might have been missed:
1) A HUGE thing that got glazed over was in episode 24 where he reveals that his father cast a parasitic curse upon all of the siblings to be essentially extra storage for power boosters. Their blood is connected to his and thus with each death he will gain more power. HOW DID LI JING FIND OUT? His mother was actually the one who told him after she overheard Qing Can, and to keep other people from finding out about the secret Qing Can “let” her be murdered by Li Yuan. Which is why Li Yuan never got in trouble for killing her. He also knows that if his father is ever let out he would use the HELLFIRE and destroy the world just so he can rule it. Li Jing actually mentions this continuously throughout the series. The lines go by quick but I count at least 5 or 6 times.
WHY DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE YOU ASK? Knowing that he knew exactly why and how his mother was betrayed means that he always has had to hide the fact he was a worthy opponent for Li Yuan or Qing Can. This part might seem like a useless bit of info, BUT if you compare how Li Jing grew up and Ye Hua’s young years it is completely opposite.
2) Xuan Nu, in Episode 40 Li Jing actually feels horrible about having to kill her. He has always felt guilty for not being able to love her, A) first she isn’t A-Yin / Bai Qian B) he sees the horrible things she does to get his attention and is disgusted with both her actions and himself because he believes he drove her to it.
When he expresses that he wishes to be buried with her he says “ bring her body back because no matter what, she is the one I MARRIED legitimately and I owe it to her to be buried together.” Reading between the lines he knows he has been an unworthy husband to her or anyone and is hoping at least to preserve some way of honoring the vows of marriage. He knows he owed her affections and that basically his weakness fed into her delusions.
After she dies he felt better and this is when he realizes also how HONORABLE Ye Hua actually is and is truly the mirror opposite of himself in regards to love. He admires this and even though he still wanted A-Yin/ Bai Qian he couldn’t and shouldn’t take her away from Ye Hua. So after he guesses Ye Hua’s intentions of self-sacrifice he decides that for once in his life he should stop hiding and challenge his father in one final battle - for a chance that he could hurt his primal soul essence and thus either die trying or successfully could get rid of nasty daddy, afterwards becoming the great ruler he could be. No matter what though, he knows that even if he can't hurt his father’s primal soul essence he will strengthen the chance of Ye Hua and Bai Qian winning. He then uses up almost half of his cultivation and blood to call his demon dad’s Primal soul essence.
Side note: Primal soul essence is a bit different from cultivation. In the ancient Chinese belief the soul essence is much like the roots of a tree. IF the roots are healthy and strong the tree could be badly damaged and it will still live on. But if the roots are half eaten the tree could be full of life and still be knocked over by a minor breeze. If you hurt the Primal soul essence enough it doesn’t matter how explosive your cultivation powers are there is not enough SOUL for the powers to feed off of for long. Quick burst and then gone.
Finally, in episode 56 Li Jing gathers his father’s Primal soul essence and wounds him. A VERY redeeming line after Qing Can and Ye Hua crash out of the sky to the riverbank completely got glazed over in the subbing. While Qing Can was whining about how it’s not a fair fight because he hasn’t healed from being trapped under the bell he also said “if it were not for my rebellious son taking out 3 or 4 of my Primal soul essence you never would have beaten me.” He dies and releases the hellfire but that is also fueled by his Primal soul essence which is now so weak after the fight it can only release the fire not fan it or feed it. This is giving Ye Hua the opportunity to DESTROY the bell, because it can now implode instead.
These are my thoughts on Li Jing that actually redeemed his character! He was weak, emo and impulsive but his last act was far from thoughtless or worthless. He knew he was never going to win against his father unless he would get very, very lucky - he just wanted to give Ye Hua a chance of surviving. He wanted Ye Hua and Bai Qian to be happy and for the majority of his subjects to live without the oppression from his father and paying for the bad decisions the royal and noble families have made.
Fun things you didn’t know about his name- LI离 Jing镜
Like all of the people in his domain his name has no distinction between first and last name. There is no family name.
LI离- means To be; without, apart, separated, away from, distant
Jing 镜- means mirror, lens, reflection, and to be pensive.
Therefore, together, you can say his name signified his life and character. He really was a mirror for all the wrong things one can do so that his life is always full of separation, and loss.
In Li Jing's Defense
by SleepyNandaBold statement in the beginning: He is extremely annoying in the book, but there are quite a few subtleties that the drama series and actor Vin Zhang managed to convey that made him watchable and actually connectable.
Let me explain a few things that due to subtitles might have been missed:
1) A HUGE thing that got glazed over was in episode 24 where he reveals that his father cast a parasitic curse upon all of the siblings to be essentially extra storage for power boosters. Their blood is connected to his and thus with each death he will gain more power. HOW DID LI JING FIND OUT? His mother was actually the one who told him after she overheard Qing Can, and to keep other people from finding out about the secret Qing Can “let” her be murdered by Li Yuan. Which is why Li Yuan never got in trouble for killing her. He also knows that if his father is ever let out he would use the HELLFIRE and destroy the world just so he can rule it. Li Jing actually mentions this continuously throughout the series. The lines go by quick but I count at least 5 or 6 times.
When he expresses that he wishes to be buried with her he says “ bring her body back because no matter what, she is the one I MARRIED legitimately and I owe it to her to be buried together.” Reading between the lines he knows he has been an unworthy husband to her or anyone and is hoping at least to preserve some way of honoring the vows of marriage. He knows he owed her affections and that basically his weakness fed into her delusions.
Side note: Primal soul essence is a bit different from cultivation. In the ancient Chinese belief the soul essence is much like the roots of a tree. IF the roots are healthy and strong the tree could be badly damaged and it will still live on. But if the roots are half eaten the tree could be full of life and still be knocked over by a minor breeze. If you hurt the Primal soul essence enough it doesn’t matter how explosive your cultivation powers are there is not enough SOUL for the powers to feed off of for long. Quick burst and then gone.
These are my thoughts on Li Jing that actually redeemed his character! He was weak, emo and impulsive but his last act was far from thoughtless or worthless. He knew he was never going to win against his father unless he would get very, very lucky - he just wanted to give Ye Hua a chance of surviving. He wanted Ye Hua and Bai Qian to be happy and for the majority of his subjects to live without the oppression from his father and paying for the bad decisions the royal and noble families have made.
Like all of the people in his domain his name has no distinction between first and last name. There is no family name.
LI离- means To be; without, apart, separated, away from, distant
Jing 镜- means mirror, lens, reflection, and to be pensive.
Therefore, together, you can say his name signified his life and character. He really was a mirror for all the wrong things one can do so that his life is always full of separation, and loss.